Joliet Junior College Powwow

We spent 10 hours at the JJC Powwow yesterday. I now know many of the dancers from my work at the AIC on Tu/Th. It was a very nice way to celebrate their lives and talents.
One lady I work with (above, Barbara) talks non-stop about her little princess granddaughter, Asia (also above). Asia is full of life and a very good jingle-dress-dancer for only being four years old. She calls me "grandma's friend," and gives really warm hugs!
My AIC Food Pantry supervisor, Hara brought her granddaughter, Naya to the powwow. She and Sarah hit it off as friends right away! Naya is teaching Sarah how to jingle-dress dance.

The junior-level Fancy Feather boys dance their little hearts out and are always the favorite of the crowd! These boys are so light on their feet, quick, limber, and very fun to watch!

I have many, many more pictures. If you are interested - just ask to see them when you are here next! I love to show off my powwow friends!

Ready for SPRING!

Last weekend we purchased a new dining room set. Our old ones were almost 20 years old!

My favorite color is yellow, followed closely by red and pink. What better way to decorate the room where I entertain all my family and friends than with colors that represent my personality!

I am thinking of adding a second table and two more chairs to make more room for friends! Ikea has good prices, so I am sure it won't take me long to complete my mission!

I am getting the place ready for spring. Bright colors, fresh flowers, and sun coming through the windows always cheers me up!

Lilies make me think of spring. I am soooo ready for spring to arrive! The 60-degree weather we have been getting is such a relief from the freezing snow and ice we had all winter!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the snow stays away for another 9 months. I am ready to play in the sun!!!

Powwow WOWser!

I am a fan of powwows. A big fan. If I owned a car, I would have one of those bumper stickers that said "On the Powwow Trail." I am not even Native American. (Well, maybe like 1/32nd or less...) But there is something about a powwow that gets my spirits soaring and my heart pumping.

My first powwow experience was in Maggie Valley, NC. A Cherokee group was having a powwow at the old Ghost Town amusement park. Up to that point in my life (I was about 14 or 15) I had never really seen a Native American person. And as much as I love powwows now, that first experience was not a great introduction to contemporary NA life. I plugged my ears because the drums were too loud and the singing just sounded like screaming and moaning. And the ladies traditional-dance just looked like a bunch of old women walking as slowly as possible in a circle. I think I laughed. I am pretty sure I insulted a few people. And for that, I am now TRULY sorry.

Later in life, I attended the U of M "Dance for Mother Earth" at Cristler Arena in Ann Arbor, MI. And I fell in love with the powwow scene. I ate my first piece of fry bread. I bought a beaded bookmark. I contemplated buying moccasins, but realized I wouldn't really wear them. And I learned about Pine Ridge, SD for the first time. From that moment on, I was hooked. I was an advocate for NA equality.

I attended the Chicago powwow in November, 2008. That is how I got involved with the American Indian Center. And I re-focused my anthropological studies on Native American issues. (Primarily on urban communities and powwows as expressive culture.)And I was growing very anxious to attend another powwow. But, since Chicago isn't exactly a great market for powwows, I remembered the U of M powwow. So I looked it up and discovered it was going to be in March. So I planned a weekend trip back to my hometown to attend the event.
I checked the website to see which drums were going to be singing and discovered they rescheduled the powwow for Easter weekend - at Eastern University's field house. So... I rescheduled my plans to go back home for Easter.

This morning, I checked the website again to see what vendors would be there. To my surprise, I found that they have, yet again, changed the date and location. It is now at Saline Middle School on April 4th and 5th. Now, I will be honest with you and admit that I was a little frustrated. Jamie had taken time off at Easter to go back to Michigan. Just for the powwow. Now we have to see if we can take another day off to drive out there for the powwow on a different weekend...
So I was all worked up and contemplating just not going at all. But I read an email from the Native American Student Association to the U of M: it made me cry. I could re-phrase it all and summarize the email for you, but I thought you could just read it yourself.

http://http://www.umich.edu/~powwow/pdfs/committeeLetterToUM.pdf



I am so proud of NASA at U of M. I am so happy they have found the courage to take back what is theirs and stand firm in their traditional beliefs and voice their powwow the way they want it, as opposed to the way corporate white people see it. My hear it swelling with pride in my native commrades! I hope you will join me at Saline Middle School on April 4th and 5th and show your support for NASA, Michigan's native community, and their struggle for cultural independence and expression.

Power to the Powwow!

House Hunting?

Rumor has it that our rent is going up significantly this summer. So with that in mind, Jamie and I are in the preliminary stages of house hunting. Maybe we will purchase, maybe we will continue to rent until I finish school - either way, we are looking at houses. And we are looking for them in Chicago suburbs. We LOVE Chicago, but to be honest, the public school system SUCKS! And the older we get, the more we desire a home to settle down in on a nice little plot of land with a garage, a garden, and maybe even a wind turbine!

We haven't decided on a place, a price, or any detail really. We just contacted a realtor this morning to get the ball rolling. But you know me - I can't wait for anything - I had to go online and look at the possibilities!

Check out this house in Barrington, IL! If we are approved for that much - We are moving here for sure!!! (:-) Side note: I am not getting my hopes up. I am just speculating on the possibility. There is something about this house that speaks to my adventurous and unique personality!

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/28453-W-Maple-Ave_Barrington_IL_60010_1105734646

Tell me what you think!!!

Some Pictures, finally!

The girls had fun at Sarah's 9th birthday sleep-over! Girls just want to have fun!!!

Jamie and Simon taking a Christmas nap.

Sarah and my niece, Abby had fun playing together at grandma's house. Abby is adorable. I don't get to see her very often.

Simon had a Christmas concert at his school. They all had to wear matching outfits. It was so cute!

Above is Slavica and me. She came to watch the kids and help me get ready.

This is Jamie and me on our way to his work-party.

Just an Update

Life is very busy these days. School is keeping me on my toes. The Pine Ridge trip consumes most of my free time. And I am still volunteering 2 days a week at the AIC. I am continuing to meditate, reflect, keep a journal, and hold "life-lesson-sessions" with a Jesuit. I am learning so much about social justice, living simply, awareness of my impact on the world, and ethical/moral judgement.

We celebrated 2 birthdays in our house within the past two weeks. Simon turned 6 and Sarah turned 9. Simon had friends at Chuck E Cheese, and Sarah had a sleep-over with 3 friends. It was fun, but I am glad it only comes once a year!

I have a guilty pleasure to confess: I am addicted to two TV shows. I watch "Big Love" and "Living With Ed" religiously now. I highly recommend "Living With Ed" on Planet Green if you haven't seen it. It is a reality program showcasing Ed Begley and his wife in their attempts to live a completely green lifestyle. It is humerous, but also very inspiring and educational. I have gotten so many ideas about what I want to implement in my own life just from that show.
And "Big Love" is a HBO series about mainstream polygamists in Utah starring Bill Paxton, Chloe Svignie, and Jeanne Triplehorn... It is dramatic, exciting, mysterious, and just plain entertaining. If you have HBO I think you would enjoy it even if you may not understand the Mormon themes of the scripting.

Andrew has a girlfriend now. Her name is Maria. He gave her a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day. Today they are going to a school dance together. Am I really ready for this? He still seems so jouvenile and childish to me. But I guess I am just holding on to the past and need to accept that he is growing up. But wait - he is only 11.75 years old. When did kids start dating so young? My head is going to explode if I think about it too much. Sarah is my spy. And Simon tells me EVERYTHING Andrew says to Maria on the phone. So I think I have my sources covered! :-) I don't want to be that meddelsome mother who can't trust her children... but it is so hard to not want to keep them little.

That's about it for today. Thanks for tuning in.

Carnival

I cannot contain my excitement any longer!!!

I have the best husband ever! He just paid for a 7-night Caribbean cruise for us and our best friend, Slavica!!!

August 30- September 6th we will be in Grand Cayman Island; Cozumel, Mexico; The rain forests of Belize; and Isle Roatan, Honduras!!!!!

We are going to be sailing on the Carnival ship, Legend.

So of course you know what this means... Slavica and I are ALREADY going shopping for clothes. Now is the time to buy summer stuff! (Plus, we are hitting the gym hard! We need beach bodies!!!)

This is that opportunity I was looking for to see somewhere other than the US. Honduras is pretty poor. I am looking forward to supporting local crafters and touring the island to catcha glimpse of their culture. Plus, in Belize and Cozumel, we can tour ancient Mayan ruins! Slavica is super excited about that!!!

I am so excited! I just can't help myself!